LOS ANGELES — His face turnip red, George Karl stomped onto the court after the whistle blew, the coach's assistants helplessly unable to stop him. The passion. The pain. The playoff race.

The Nuggets coach got a technical foul for his fourth-quarter outburst, which summed up Denver's night in L.A. — frustration and fury.

The Nuggets lost a close game to the Lakers, 103-97, which puts Denver at 32-27 on the season, stuck in the same eight spot in the Western Conference.

"As much as I was disappointed of how we played against Minnesota (in the win), I'm proud about how we played tonight," Karl said. "We didn't have a lot of luck. We kept fighting and fighting and finally found five guys. But our offense didn't get enough done. I'm just amazed we can take 60 shots in the paint and get 12 fouls."

Said Lakers forward Matt Barnes after the game: "It's playoff time."

That's the intensity of these April games as teams jockey for position. And while the Lakers (38-22, third in West) were without all-star Kobe Bryant, Barnes ascended, making nine of his 11 shot attempts for a season-high 24 points.

"He had an exceptional game," Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo said of Barnes. "He hit some big shots down the stretch. That was partly my fault. And they deserved (the win)."

Denver's Danilo Gallinari infamously missed a late layup in the Nuggets' first game here against the Lakers. On Friday, he just wasn't himself all night. The normally confident Italian shot just 2-for-9 from the field, finishing with just seven points, while he continues to play with a healing fractured thumb.

Nuggets point guard Andre Miller played one of his best games of the season - in one of the most-important games of the season. Bulldozing to the basket, fearless despite his banged-up shoulder, Miller shouldered the load for much of the night. In fact, in the final minutes, Karl opted for Miller instead of starter Ty Lawson (later, Karl pulled Corey Brewer in place of Lawson, to have a two-point guard backcourt). Miller finished with a team-high 20 points, as well as six rebounds and six assists.

The biggest problem for Denver was a slow start. They trailed 30-19 after the first quarter in which the Nuggets made just 8-of-23 shots.

"We've got to be more consistent with our intensity in the first quarter," said Nuggets center JaVale McGee, who finished with 14 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting and 10 rebounds.

The events of earlier in the night directly affected the Nuggets, arguably in a good way. The Suns (31-28) went into Houston and beat the Rockets (32-27). The Nuggets have the tiebreaker with the Suns but the tiebreaker with Houston is yet to be determined.

Houston and Denver can control their destiny in this rare setup on Sunday and Monday. The Rockets come to Denver on Sunday and then the two squads will head down to Houston for a game the next day. Currently, the season series is 1-1, so the tiebreaker is on the line (the Nuggets don't have the tiebreaker against Dallas, which entered Friday a half-game ahead of Denver and Houston).

"I think Houston is a little bit like us - they have a lot of good players, but they don't necessarily have a star," Karl said. "(Luis) Scola can beat you, Marcus Camby has come in and given them the rebounding and size. They have a lot of guys who can make shots off the bench. (Goran) Dragic has played great and they have Kyle Lowry back. You look at our rosters, we have kind of similar personalities."

After the games against Houston, Denver will have just five more cracks at a W. First Denver is home against the Clippers on Wednesday. On Friday, the Nuggets are at Phoenix, another team jostling for a final playoff spot, though Denver has the tiebreaker against the Suns. Then Orlando, without the injured Dwight Howard, will come to Pepsi Center on the following Sunday. Finally, it's a back-to-back at the Thunder and Timberwolves.

From there, is it back here to L.A.? Or down to San Antonio or Oklahoma City? Or to the golf course?

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